Encouraging people to show up

[lesliev]

We played a FG-Con game this evening and only 2 out of 5 people showed up. One of the players said that his previous game had failed because of the same problem. Any ideas on encouraging people to keep to their commitment? We discussed how paid games, where you pay a small token amount at the beginning of a long campaign, can help filter out people who don't take the game seriously. But is there anything else anyone's doing, particularly for one-shots where the commitment seems to be even lower?

[Gwydion]

We played a FG-Con game this evening and only 2 out of 5 people showed up. One of the players said that his previous game had failed because of the same problem. Any ideas on encouraging people to keep to their commitment? We discussed how paid games, where you pay a small token amount at the beginning of a long campaign, can help filter out people who don't take the game seriously. But is there anything else anyone's doing, particularly for one-shots where the commitment seems to be even lower?

That really stinks when you put a lot of time in up front. I've been fortunate/lucky with my one-shots. The things I try to do are as follows:

1 - Make sure to sign up 5-6 people so if 1-2 no-show it isn't a big deal (which you did as you had 5 sign up)
2 - Impress upon folks when they accept the game that others are counting on them too and if they can't show just to give me as much notice as possible
3 - Communicate in advance. I really try to communicate quite a bit in the week(s) before the session. Make sure folks stay committed, get them interested in the game, etc.
4 - Session day. I usually reach out again to confirm. Make sure everyone is still in, particularly if I haven't received communication back from 1-2 people

Not sure what else you can really do. Sorry it happened!

[Nylanfs]

Flogging.

[lostsanityreturned]

Having a small entry fee could be a good idea if a little against the spirit.

Having a friend in the wings incase people drop out

I dunno really, people are flaky and that is just something to expect sometimes sadly. I would be tempted to keep a black book and never allow those people into my games / warn friends. But I wouldn't want this sort of info to be shared around much as it is prone to abuse.

[Myrdin Potter]

I had the same experience in previous FG-Con's and this year I had 6 that all showed up and showed up early. It is person by person, unfortunately.

[damned]

We played a FG-Con game this evening and only 2 out of 5 people showed up. One of the players said that his previous game had failed because of the same problem. Any ideas on encouraging people to keep to their commitment? We discussed how paid games, where you pay a small token amount at the beginning of a long campaign, can help filter out people who don't take the game seriously. But is there anything else anyone's doing, particularly for one-shots where the commitment seems to be even lower?

Hi lesliev Im sorry to hear about your frustrating experience.
The only way I have found to have people reliably show up is when they are part of a regular group and I communicate with them during the week.
I was quite fortunate and both my FG Con games had all booked players show up - although two arrived only after an email at game time + 15mins - but they are also GMs and heavy players so tend to be on the more reliable side.

The two things that work for me - over the long term - are to always run the game when I say I will. Even if I only have 2 players. I might not play the scheduled material - we might play a side mission or something completely different, but we play. Of course - I have come down sick on game day once and I have had no power on another - nothing is perfect. By me turning up AND playing (eg not cancelling a game for low player numbers) it builds a reciprocal commitment from players. And communicate regularly. Be proactive with your communications and ask for and expect the players to reply to confirm their participation. For regular groups this is much easier to achieve but insist on it for one shots too.

[JohnD]

Absolutely communicate in advance by email as soon as you receive the contact information. Also a day ahead of time and maybe an hour ahead of time, even just to say FG is online.

[Trenloe]

Communicate, communicate, communicate!

Related to FG Con:

You don’t need to wait for damned to send out the email with the list of booked player details - you’ll get the player email with the original booking auto notification email and you can also get the email addresses of all currently booked players from the FG Con console: Events -> Bookings.

It’s also vital in your communication with the players that you re-iterate the time of the event (and you stick to that time - be online 15 before your session) - people can forget, get mixed up, not enter their time zone correctly, etc..

If you don’t hear from a player with the first email, try to contact them again (and again). If you don’t get any response then consider removing them from the event (or if you’re not full assume they won’t turn up).

Even if you try hard with communication you’ll get no shows. But good communication will reduce that considerably and hopefully identify any potential issues early.

[Targas]

I‘ve one of my players usually sleep (alot) before the start of our session, and need someone from our group call him. We usually start 15 min. late, until everyone is in - even if I enter half an hour before session start. That‘s obviously draining game time - and we have just 3 hours, so it‘s abit...

[notrealdan]

I have the same kind of problems with my in-person group. I ask people to arrive between 5 and 6, game starts at 6. I ask them to come closer to 5 if they want to eat (I usually have pizza waiting for them) or go over anything with their character or whatever. Most of them arrive around 6:15 and ask what kind of pizza we have this time... The answer is always the same: cold pizza.

Communication is absolutely key, whether the group is online or in-person. I also find that a mass email to the entire group is less effective than individual emails or texts directed to each person. If an email that requires action is directed at many, nobody individually feels responsible for taking action.